Web access 97 conference (fwd)

Web access 97 conference (fwd)

[Hans Zoebelein]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 17:11:40 EST
From: Jamal Mazrui <74444.1076@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Reply-To: Access to GUI via Speech <GUISPEAK@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU>
To: GUISPEAK@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU
Subject: Web access 97 conference

I'm forwarding this information about a web access conference.

----------

     November 1, 1996

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Thank you for your interest in the Third Access to Graphical User
Interface Conference. We have changed our name to WEB ACCESS
97.  WEB ACCESS 97 is a follow-up to our two previous conferences
which addressed the problems blind and visually impaired people
face in accessing graphical user interfaces (see our attached FAQ
sheet for more information on this subject).

WEB ACCESS 97 will take place from April 7-10 at the Santa Clara
Convention Center as part of the larger World Wide Web conference
WWW6 which is being held on April 7-12. Combining the conferences
offers us an unparalleled opportunity to experience the very
latest hardware and software and to bring Web access issues to
the attention of Web developers and vendors.  The conference
program will provide numerous opportunities for
cross-fertilization of ideas between web developers and
individuals with disabilities.

Pre-conference sessions will be held on April 7 at the Center for
the Study of Language and Information on Stanford campus. These
will consist of two workshops: one on web and Internet access for
blind users and the second on building accessible web pages. In
addition a "Battling Browsers" event to be held during the main
conference will compare web access using different combinations
of screen readers and web browsers.

Papers for WEB ACCESS 97 will be refereed for inclusion in the
program for the World Wide Web conference and will be published
on the web prior to the conference. If you want to submit a paper
for WEB ACCESS 97, we need to receive an abstract of 100 to 200
words by November 30 at the latest. Possible topics are 1)
Legislative and policy issues regarding GUI access and the Web 2)
Vendor neutral comparisons of existing products 3) The social
impact of the web on disability populations 4) uses of the web
and their interaction with GUI screen readers 5) managing
multi-media (e.g. -- audio description for video output) 6)
technical interface -- issues of access technology developers vis
a vis the mainstream. Acceptance of an abstract will result in an
invitation to submit a paper which must then be received by
January 15, 1997 in order to be approved for the final program.

We will have some funding available to award partial scholarships
to those who wish to participate in WEB ACCESS 97. Priority will
go to those with the greatest need (e.g. whose agency or
workplace cannot fund them) and to those who are participating in
some way (helping us with pre-conference sessions or giving a
paper, etc.). Please let us know
by December 1 at the latest if you wish to be considered for a
scholarship.

We have set up a web page at the URL:  http://www-
csli.stanford.edu/arch/GUI/

This will be updated with information about the conference as it
becomes available. We will also be posting information regarding
past GUI conferences and previous work published on this subject.
Prior to the conference we will be posting the papers which have
been accepted and asking for comments. This will give people who
aren't able to attend in person a chance to participate.
Following the conference we will use our web site to continue the
dialogue.

As of this writing Stanford University is still negotiating on
the final details of the main conference. We have recommended
that the WEB ACCESS 97 conference fees be set at $400, but the
final amount is still being negotiated.

Please check the WWW6 conference web site at URL:
http://www6conf.slac.stanford.edu/ for more information about the
overall conference. Requirements for submitting papers to the
general conference are available at this site. These are
different from the requirements for the GUI Access Conference.

For those of you who haven't been in touch with us this year,
please let us know if you wish to receive further mailings. We
are in the process of updating our mailing list and in the future
we will send out information only to those people who have
specifically indicated their interest in WEB ACCESS 97. Be sure
to include your email address if you have one. If you have no
on-line address, and need to receive information on disk, please
let us know.

We are excited about the response we have received so far and
look forward to a great conference!


Sincerely,

Conference Organizers:

Margy Kahn
mkahn@arch.stanford.edu

Jan McKinley
mckinley@arch.stanford.edu

Neil Scott
ngscott@arch.stanford.edu

WEB ACCESS 97 address and phone number: WEB ACCESS 97,
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and
Information, Ventura Hall, Stanford, CA 94305-4115; (415)
723-8456


Frequently Asked Questions about the Access to GUI Conference

What is the purpose of the GUI access conferences?

The GUI conferences have three major purposes:

     * To review the state of the art in access technology for
persons who are blind and visually impaired.

     *To consolidate ideas on the research and development
necessary to provide long-term comprehensive solutions to the GUI
access problem as recommended at the "Access to GUI" conference
held at Asilomar in 1993 and Access to GUI II at Vallombrosa in
1995.

*To develop collaborations for ongoing research and development,
manufacture, and delivery of solutions to the GUI problems.

How did they start?

Jan McKinley, researcher at the Western Blind Rehabilitation
Center at the Veterans Medical Center in Palo Alto was concerned
about the potential exclusion of blind people from computer
access in the early 90's. After talking with Neil Scott, chief
engineer of the Archimedes Project at the Center for the Study of
Language and Information at Stanford University, they decided to
gather together blind computer users, trainers, access products
developers, computer programmers and researchers to address the
issue of how blind computer users were going to access graphical
interfaces.    Together with Margy Kahn, who was then at Sensory
Access Foundation, they planned the first GUI access conference
which was held at Asilomar in November 1993. Using the resources
of the three sponsoring organizations as well as the help of
dedicated volunteers they were able to put together    an
intimate working conference on a remarkably low budget.

The next conference, GUI95, was partly funded by the NEC
Foundation of America. It focused on the intersection of GUI
issues and access to employment. Both developers of GUI screen
readers and mainstream software companies sent representatives.
Discussions and papers given at the conference covered a wide
range of topics including an overview of existing solutions to
GUI access for blind computer users, access to GUIs in employment
situations, suggestions on how hardware and software
manufacturers could minimize GUI access problems, options for
input and output strategies and innovative technologies which
would assist blind and visually impaired computer users, and
research that would support continued development of products and
improvements in GUI access systems as well as follow-up on
recommendations from the first Access to GUI conference.  Outside
of the formal sessions there was plenty of room for networking
and collaborations, one of which resulted in the official
conference song (gui- blues).


How will WEB ACCESS 97 be different from the earlier GUI access
conferences?

The previous two conferences were stand-alones, held in intimate
settings with a small number of people. WEB ACCESS 97 will be
held as a part of the much larger Sixth International World Wide
Web Conference. As a result, we will be focusing access to GUI on
a specific application -- using the World Wide Web.

We plan to continue the GUI Access Conference tradition of small
gatherings on focused topics while at the same time taking
advantage of this opportunity to educate mainstream developers
about our issues and to educate ourselves. We expect that this
conference may be more "professional" looking than the previous
ones but we still hope to have a lot of fun!

What is the Sixth International WWW Conference?

The International W3 Committee sponsors regular conferences
focused on the World Wide Web.  This year the theme of the
conference is access.

The following quote is taken from the conference brochure: "Since
the first invocation of the hypertext protocol, the Web has been
about access. Remote access, universal access, easy access.[This
conference] will focus on the many and varied connotations of
accessibility. from the geographical to the sociological to the
physical..."

The conference hosts this year are Stanford University and
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC).

How will the WEB ACCESS 97 sessions fit in with the Sixth
International WWW Conference?

The WEB ACCESS sessions will be an integral part of the Sixth
International WWW Conference program located at Santa Clara
Convention Center.  They are designed to bring attention to the
needs of disabled users for accessible computing and other groups
with special needs.  Sessions will address topics such as the
impact of multi-media, the impact of graphical user
interfaces, creating accessible Web pages, and using text-only or
non-visual interfaces. Interactive demonstrations and exhibits of
access technology for disabled computer users will be held in the
main exhibit hall.

How can I get involved?

We encourage everyone with an interest to contact us. If you are
not yet a high speed traveler of the Internet you may want to
sign up for the pre-conference session on tips for navigating and
building your own web page. We are interested in receiving papers
about any work relating to Internet access. If you are in the
area and would like to volunteer to help out with conference
tasks we would be happy to hear from you. If you can't attend the
conference in person you can send mail to this web site. We will
be posting all the papers submitted as well as transcripts of the
proceedings and we hope to have an interactive virtual conference
that transcends the actual four days.